Twelfth Night - Page 2

A year later, they recorded what was probably their best studio album, "Fact and Fiction". This established Geoff Mann as a lyrical force to be reckoned with. The two highlights of the album, the lengthy "We Are Sane" and "Creepshow" were both drawn from his experiences with art therapy at a psychiatric hospital. While one critic described "We Are Sane" as 'Pink Floyd's "The Wall" summarised in ten minutes', it came over to me as a statement of how people are brainwashed by the media. For example, this spoken section:

"If the thought processes of an individual can be permenantly limited to the point of strict conformity to an outside source of thought, that said individual need no longer be considered as such. The enforcement of order becomes possible for anyone with enough power to control what is projected"

The overall tone of the album was dark and gloomy, reflecting the times - the early 80s were dark and gloomy, the feeling Thatcher and Reagan had declared war on the young and the poor, and the ever-present threat of nuclear war. Mann's voice was an acquired taste; more Peter Hamill than Jon Anderson, but there was a passion and humanity in his lyrics, reflecting his strong Christian faith. The albums biggest weakness is the production, a thin sound that didn't really do the material justice. It's only recently appeared on CD, with a number of bonus tracks including the single "East of Eden/Eleanor Rigby".

They played the Reading Festival again in 1983, opening the bill on the Sunday, and I had the opportunity to see what a great frontman Geoff Mann had become; his charisma and lyrics more than made up for his shortcomings as a singer. However, just as things looked as though they taking off, Geoff left the band.

The live album "Live and Let Live comes from his final gigs with the band at the Marquee club in London. Certainly the band's best album overall, the band here is on excellent form. Much of the material is superior live takes of the songs from "Fact and Fiction", but we also get the previously unrecorded opener "The Ceiling Speaks", and the full version of the epic "Sequences". This album has also recently been rereleased on CD with extra tracks, now including "Creepshow" and "East of Eden" that weren't on the original vinyl release.

Article Author: Tim Hall

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